Movie Drabbles
by Mara Greengrass
Summary: A series of unconnected drabbles. Characters and moods will vary.
1. The Shoemaker's Children

"The Shoemaker's Children"  
  
Jean put her eye to the microscope, and thought about how hard she worked to keep everyone healthy: insisting they get regular checkups, and take multivitamins, and treat all illnesses promptly.  
  
But there are certain tests a school doctor can't do on herself, and the busy schedule of schoolteacher, superhero and all-around housemother didn't leave a lot of time for off-campus office visits.  
  
The cells looked just the way she expected, and when she looked up, the sympathetic expression on the other woman almost undid her. She swallowed sharply, beating back a wave of nausea.  
  
"It's malignant," the doctor said. 


	2. Dilemma

"Dilemma"  
  
Scott's curses were inventive, Jean thought, leaning against the wall--she hadn't realized he could blaspheme in so many languages.  
  
The students were also impressed. Those nearby when the situation began went to find their friends, and now half the school was avidly listening.  
  
Jean suspected she should shoo them off to do homework, but couldn't bring herself to do it. It was good for the students to realize that even Scott wasn't infallible.   
  
"Scott," she called. "Don't you think--"  
  
His damp, tousled head emerged from under the sink. "I can fix an SR-71. I'm not calling a plumber." 


	3. The Bride Wore White

"The Bride Wore White"  
  
After surviving the terror of asking Jean to marry him, Scott figured they'd have a simple wedding. It was unfortunate nobody had ever told him there's no such thing as a simple wedding.  
  
"I've created battle plans that accounted for the movement of hundreds of people, how hard could a wedding be?" he asked Professor Xavier as they relaxed in the dining room after dinner. "A minister, flowers, bridesmaids, feed the guests. Sounds simple to me."  
  
The Professor gave him a strange look. "I believe that I will leave this to be a learning experience," was all he would say. 


	4. Food Rules

"Food Rules"  
  
Kitty couldn't follow all the complex Passover food rules while at the mansion, but she'd created some compromises that left her happier about not going home.  
  
The chef gave up a corner of the kitchen--Kitty stocked it with all the Passover foods she could find, and even scrubbed the cabinets clean.  
  
So, when she came looking for a kosher for Passover snack that evening, she was pleased with herself. That didn't last long.  
  
"Bobby!"  
  
"What?" A ring gel tucked in his mouth, he looked up from the platter full of matzo he'd covered in ham and cheese. "What's wrong?" 


	5. Beauty and the Beast, X2

"Beauty and the Beast" (X2)  
  
If Logan ever read fairy tales, he doesn't remember them. But while flipping through television stations in a barren motel room, he found Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Against his will, he watched.  
  
Now, deep inside, he thinks of himself as the hairy beast, hoping Jean will find his inner goodness and turn him back into a prince, the man he must have been.  
  
"I can be the good guy," he said, hoping a kiss would convince her.  
  
When she pushed him away, all his fairy tale imaginings crumbled. It was as if his childhood was stolen a second time. 


	6. Five for the Senses, X1 and X2

The following are five unconnected drabbles, all responses to dual challenges: senses and cliches. 

* * * * *

__

Smell

When Scott entered the kitchen, he found Logan...and absolute chaos: the contents of the mansion's fridge and freezer scattered across every horizontal surface. Carrots rolled into bags of mozzarella, all perched atop a precarious stack of leftover lasagna. Logan pitched a bag of frozen salmon onto the counter.

"What's going on?" Scott asked.

Logan scowled over his shoulder, waving a bag of peas at him. "It's driving me crazy. I'm gonna be fucking Hamlet soon."

Scott blinked at the apparent non sequitur. "What?"

"Something's rotten in the state of Denmark and I'm damn well gonna find it, 'cause it stinks."

* * * * *

__

Sight

Kurt felt like an outsider, the only obvious mutant, surrounded by children who could pass and teachers who might have been supermodels. The mansion was filled with beautiful objects and people. 

He spent one entire day perched in a tree, thinking. Resolved to leave, he returned to the mansion to pack, finding noise and chaos.

"Kurt!" Ororo cried, her eyes wide.

"What is this?"

"We couldn't find you."

A gang of students surrounded him, looking worried.

"Don't scare us like that with the Professor gone," Rogue said, Jubilee nodding emphatically.

Maybe he *did* belong here. After all, seeing is believing.

* * * * *

__

Touch

Rogue found her spiritual kin while reading mythology: King Midas. He asked that everything he touched turn to gold, but found that included his food.

Midas touch: A blessing becoming a curse.

Rogue wished she could understand people, wished she knew what they were thinking. Just like King Midas, God granted her wish one afternoon, with the clean smell of David's soap filling her nose and the warmth of his skin millimeters away.

When her lips touched his, everything he knew and everything he was flowed into her.

Like Midas, Rogue prayed. Unlike Midas, this time her prayers went unanswered.

* * * * *

__

Hearing

"I can't believe you just said that," Kitty said.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know what you're complaining about. You said you couldn't think of a way to describe the sound the jet's engine is making."

Jean tried to say something, but she was too busy laughing and barely managed to pat Sam on the back.

Kitty shook her head. "It's certainly...descriptive. Not precisely something I can use when describing the problem to Scott, though."

Jean doubled over, tears streaming down her face.

Sam frowned. "But it *does* sound louder than two skeletons making love on a tin roof."

* * * * *

__

Taste

Jubilee nibbled at the cookie's edge and moaned with happiness. The sweet--with just a hint of salty--warm, goodness of a chocolate chip cookie slid down her throat, and she took another bite.

This was absolute heaven, she decided. Maybe she'd have some honey-roasted peanuts next, reversing to salty with just a bit of sweet. She could even alternate between cookie and peanuts.

"Jubes!" Rogue said.

"What?"

"How can you just sit there and eat?" Rogue asked, incredulous. "Those soldiers put you in a cell!"

"Something I learned on the streets: You've gotta take the bitter with the sweet."


	7. What Dreams May Come, X2

"What Dreams May Come"  
  
Shivering, Scott rolled over, wrapping himself around his fiancée's warm body.  
  
**What's wrong, Scott?**  
  
He shook his head once, fiercely, then rested it in that familiar nook between her shoulder and chin. Breathing deeply, he concentrated on the slightly sweaty warmth of her skin, the floral smell of her favorite hand lotion.  
  
"I dreamt you were dead," he said, realizing how ridiculous his reaction sounded.  
  
As the body he held dissolved into mist in his arms, her voice spoke into his mind one more time.  
  
**I am. But not for long.**  
  
And she was gone in a flash of red-gold. 


	8. The Free Press

Title: The Free Press  
  
Summary: Scott reads the paper every morning, but he doesn't enjoy it anymore.  
  
Challenge: Mutant Tribune  
  
Notes: The text of the first drabble is loosely adapted from a recent Associated Press article.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"Page A-5"  
  
DAYTON, Tenn. (March 17) - The county that convicted John Scopes for teaching evolution is at it again. Tuesday, Rhea County commissioners unanimously voted to ask the state government to amend state law so they can charge mutants with crimes against nature.  
  
"We need to keep them out of here," said Commissioner J.C. Fugate, who introduced the measure. "Their lifestyle is incompatible with ours."  
  
Next, commissioners will work with the county attorney to craft an ordinance banning mutants from living in Rhea County.  
  
Mutant rights group Parents and Friends of Mutants will protest Friday afternoon in front of the statehouse.  
  
* * * * *  
  
"The Lifestyle Section"  
  
Hollywood is abuzz with news that NBC's top-rated show "Buddies" may introduce a mutant sub-plot. Rumors are unsubstantiated, but sources tell us the season finale will feature an as-yet unnamed woman, possibly an old college friend of one of the main characters, who comes out to the gang as a mutant.  
  
Network executives refused to comment and the producers didn't return phone calls, which makes this reporter think the rumors might be true.   
  
The Family Protection Association has already announced plans to boycott NBC shows and advertisers if mutants are portrayed in a positive light in such a public forum.  
  
* * * * *   
  
"Op-Ed Page"  
  
Newspapers are filled with calls for mutant rights and other absurdities. Giving mutants civil rights would be like expecting bombs to live as members of our society. Mutants pose at least as much of a threat as weapons, and probably more.  
  
Rather than succumbing to political correctness, our government must protect innocent citizens from dangerous mutants. Our children must not be seduced by the cult of mutants into believing their lifestyle is anything by abnormal.  
  
I urge Congress to pass HR 5278, the Save Our Future Act, and prove that democracy works, that majority rule remains a firm American principle. 


End file.
